The Tellico Village Property Owners Association informed the community on multiple upcoming water-related projects slated for the near future in a recent Town Hall-style meeting.
The nearly two-hour meeting — held on Thursday, May 30 at the Community Church at Tellico Village — touched on a potential water tower, new and improved waste water pumps and storage … along with a discussion of the problems that could potentially arise if left unchecked
PPP LOAN, RESERVE FUNDING BILL
Before getting into the list of items on the agenda, TVPOA CEO Chet Pillsbury started off by addressing what apparently has become a controversial PPP loan with a brief opening statement. The Paycheck Protection Program was a Small Business Administration-backed loan program that provided forgivable emergency loans to small businesses to help them keep their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want to say at the beginning of this, legally, there is only so much I can say in this forum and I will not be taking questions about the PPP loan at all, because the case has not been unsealed and is still a sealed case,” Pillsbury said.
“The POA was advised by our bank and their legal counsel that we were eligible for this loan. We went through it twice actually. And we did receive the loan and being the prudent managers of money that we try to be … we put it in an interest-bearing account and left it there.” he said. “We never spent that money, so when they came to us and wanted their money back, it was not, it was nothing catastrophic at all.
“We just simply wrote them a check from the account where we add stuff in the first place.”
Pillsbury assured those in attendance that around 400 POAs across the nation are all in the same boat. And that it’s not an issue unique to Tellico Village.
Pillsbury also commented on the Reserve Funding Bill. The bill would affect those buying property who would now pay a percentage fee and not a flat rate fee. The money would go to the reserve fund of the POA. The new legislation would also align Tellico Village to what Board President Bob Brunetti called the “industry standard.”
“When I say that ours is fair and equitable, we’re not even in any of those ballparks and it is something that will benefit our community and it will take us into the future and give us an income into the future.” he said. “That’s incredibly easy to get and apply (for) and it will move and flow with the economy and will move and flow with a number of homes being sold.
“It is just an overwhelming benefit to us all.”
Moving on, Public Works Director Matt Benoit gave a short presentation informing members in attendance on some of the many upcoming projects.
The first project Benoit discussed was a potential water tower that would be established by the Wellness Center. The estimated cost would be around $9 million and is projected to take around 30 months to complete.
In short, the elevated water tower would help provide water in peak usage times. During the meeting, it was discussed that if left ignored it could result in low pressure for residents and inadequate fire suppression capacity in certain areas of the Village.
The second major project Benoit discussed was the Main Pump Station and Waste Water Storage Project. The cost of this project was estimated at $10 million and will likewise take about 30 months to complete.
The Main Pump Station and Waste Water Storage Project will help with overflow prevention after heavy rain. With Tellico Village having a pressurized system, not a gravity system, the need for a new pump station is vital for the Village’s long-term success, according to reports.
Benoit said that if left ignored the impact of the heavy rains could be devastating to Tellico Village — with the excess water leaking into lakes and back into homes.
As indicated by its name, this project will include the implementation of a waste water storage tank with a 750,000-gallon storage capacity.
EVEN MORE PROJECTS
Two additional projects were discussed including a lift station and control upgrade, as well as odor control at said lift stations.
Benoit said that if all goes to plan and the board approves all the upcoming projects … then 2026-27 will prove to be a very busy year.
“And I just wanted to illustrate to you … first that the projects are phased in a way that makes sense and is strategic and addresses the need and takes care of first things first … and second these are all things that we’re talking about having to do in the next five years.
“I don’t want to leave you with the impression — at all — that we’re studying, considering or thinking about rolling it around in our head,” Benoit added. “That ship has passed.
“We are at the point where we know we have projects we’ve got designed to do, and I just want to illustrate for you the funding elements are going to get intense if all of this is approved by the board.”
Benoit said that he would be making in-depth YouTube videos of each of the projects discussed at the Town Hall in the near future.
FUNDING & IMPLEMENTATION
“On behalf of the board, I just want everybody to know that we know that these are very important projects,” POA Board member Marty Inkrott said. “We’ve been talking about these at board meetings for probably the last three years.
“The genesis of it was the Jacobs Engineering water and sewer studies.
“It’s a challenge that we’re facing as a community,” Inkrott added. “We need to face it, and that’s what we’re doing now.
“And so that’s why you see these projects and, again, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen them; but we’re to the point now, where we need to execute on them.”
Inkrott doubled down and stated that the Finance Advisory Committee has been engaged and they’re coming up with a recommendation on how to fund the projects.
“We’re trying to keep you as up to date as we can as things go, but understand that these are high priority things that we need to do as a community and the board is behind 100 percent.”
The Town Hall Meeting was capped off by Pillsbury answering questions from various members regarding the Reserve Fund, the PPP loan, and the parking situation while Tanasi is rebuilding.
In fact, a few members also asked Pillsbury about a Tanasi rebuild update.
“We are 90 to 95 percent done with the drawings (and) we’re thinking of mechanicals,” Pillsbury said. “Our goal is within the next two weeks … We will have final plans for financing on Tuesday (June 4) and once we have those, they will be going out for bid.
“We should get that information back in a month,” he said. “And the plans will include the parking lots, the irrigation, landscaping, the concrete — everything to include the building.”
The next Town Hall meeting has been moved forward a few days and will now be held on Tuesday, June 25, at the Community Church at Tellico Village.
